The Dianogsis

From the beginning I have a sense of peace . I have a voice telling me I can do this. With that said, I had a weird thing happen to me today . They had taken Scott for his Pet Scan and while he was gone a lady who was a spiritual adviser came in to talk to me. She had breast cancer in 2004 and it had spread. Her chances of survival were slim. She is cancer free. She asked me how Scott's disease has touched people lives and I told her what a positive impact he has been and how he continues to amaze medical professionals. She said that she feels like God is telling her that Scott and I should tell our story through speaking or a book. She also said that she sees the holy ghost glow all around me , she prayed with me and then left.

Scott's test came back with new active tumor and allot of swelling, close to the mid line shift. They have began the Avastin to treat both the tumor and the swelling. Scott's chemo cocktail will be switched up to a week on chem through oral pills and a week off. They also are looking at possibly treating the active tumor with radiation. The tumor will be treated more aggressively. They will also place Scott on aspirin because one of the chemos side effect is blood clots. Dr. B thinks we are in a good place to turn this disease around.

Scott and I have choose to take control and not let this control our lives. Please put us in your prayers. To all our friends and family - thank you for all your support.

Test Completed

All the test have been completed and we are awaiting the results. They weighed Scott today like
manatee. He only weighs 150.6 : ( So he really needs to gain weight. the Pet Scan was done around 10:30.
We have just been hanging out between test. Tina came up last night and watch Survivor with us. Scott seems to be in alright spirits. He is really bummed he wasn't out today because he really wanted to go to Enigma to listen to Dave play.

Another Chapter

Scott and I are @ MD Anderson. They are running extensive test on Scott. His Potassium level is really low. They have started an IV drip and are giving him Potassium pills. Dr. Nick is on vacation but his partner which is just as brilliant as Dr. Nick is on call. We are not sure what we are dealing with. Maybe radiation necrosis - maybe tumor. Dr. B has ordered a Pet Scan and a CT scan to blend the two together to see what we are dealing with. Scott is a candidate for more radiation but, it could be more dangerous than not.
Here are the blue prints: They can hit the active tumor with radiation but, could we cause more damage. We can hit the tumor more aggressively with a different cocktail taken by mouth 1 week on 1 week off. Everything is up in the air right now.
Dr. B did order Avastin which can treat the tumor and the necrosis. They are weaning Scott off Predisone and Dexamethasone which are both Steroids - which will also whack out the body. Pt has been in and Scott has a swollowing test today - which can be tumor related.
Oh I just found out Dr. Nick is not on vacation and he will be up today : ) Scott's wonderful nurse has been in here a couple times a day.

Weekend Fun

Friday Scott and I picked Skylar up from school and took her to The Mighty Mushroom for an early dinner. Then to the house to play with her ZuZu pets. Scott and I surprised her with 2 new pets and a couple extra pieces to connect to what she had. These little critters drive cars and make all kinds of noises. When she asked if she could take one pet and one car home I was happy to say "yes".

Saturday my mom and friend Robert from 30+ years ago came over and Scott and I decided to take them and Michelle to lunch at the Yellow Dog Cafe. Robert did really well handling our questions. As always the food was great, the view was beautiful and the company was even better.
Sunday was warm enough for mom & Robert to enjoy the beach. Scott has started a new medication and one of the side effects is fatigue. I am hoping over time his body will adjust.

Another Crazy Day

Yesterday when I got home from work it looked like Scott had a party. In reality I have been running so much with doctor appts. I had not had time to do laundry, clean the floors, bathrooms etc. So I decided to try and tackle everything before I went to bed. First things first I needed energy so I went to Starbucks for coffee. Not that I like Starbucks but it does seem to give me that rush of energy I need sometimes.
I started laundry and then cleaned the bathrooms, started cleaning the floors and then I realized that Milo hasn't crossed my floors with his cute little paw prints. I shut off the cleaner and began to look for Milo. I went in the back yard and could hear him barking. It sounded like it was coming from the neighbors yard. Puzzled I couldn't figure out how he got in the neighbors yard. As I got closer to the fence I realized the barking wasn't coming from across the fence but under the boat. I have alittle john boat for decoration in my tropical flower bed. I saw where he had dug and I thought he had gotten under there and got stuck. I raised up the boat and Milo came flying out and jumped on top of the boat and starting pointing. He continued to bark and point. So I took a long handle and lifted the boat to find a possum standing defensively. I quickly dropped the boat and decided that was Milo battle to fight. Once Milo came it I shut the door, hoping the possum would move somewhere that would be safer. I assume during the night he or she moved because I had let Milo out this morning and he came back in.
Blake was yahoo but, I didn't even have time to really talk to him. By the time I looked back at the computer he had signed off.
I almost got all my chores done including giving Scott a shower. I will have to watch the DVR to see who got voted off of Survivor.

Tough To Say Good-Bye

I had to say Goodbye to Blake and Kellie yesterday. How hard it was to send Blake back to Iraq.
We and they had a great time when they were here. The first week they were here Blake and Kellie headed to Beech Mountain for a week.

The following week we had more time together. First I have to say Scott and I felt like we were in a hotel room in our home. Kellie made our bed everyday and laid clean towels out for us. What a wonderful gift.

After work Friday Scott and I wanted to take our friend Gail ( Scott's nurse) and Dr. Nick chocolate covered strawberries and a home made fortune. We also decided to meet up with the Family at Olive Garden. Kellie and I decided that the weather wasn't to bad outside so we wore flip flops and no jacket. Rain welcomed us as we drove into Orlando. Poor Scott he was cold, mine and Kellie's feet were frozen and we were all miserable. Dinner was great. Hunter and Reese made Valentine cards for everyone and I decorated Chinese take out boxes and filled then with candy and one homemade fortune. I also placed gel hearts on everyone's drink glass.


Saturday was Blake and Kellie's first anniversary and I had made reservations at the Chart House. As always the food and the veiw was great.
Sunday the kids had tickets to Daytona 500. With all the delays that race was a mess and they returned home early. I dropped them off at the airport and said my goodbyes. Kellie and Blake had to go there separate ways when they got to Atlanta but, at least they had the time on the plane together.

Pitty Party

Ugh! I took Skylar to a birthday party yesterday and she had a blast. Keri did a great job on Annabelle's party. We left early because we had left Scott behind and he wasn't feeling good. I have come to realize that I can not take care of Skylar and Scott too. I am tired and grumpy.

So for awhile I will just be picking Skylar up for a movie, dinner or ice cream. This will be so much easier on me. I realized this weekend that some people don't care the amount of things that I do as long as they get to do what they want to do. I often feel sometimes that I and all I do are taken for granted. I seriously need time out from life.

Juice It Does The Body Good

Scott put down the canned tea and began drinking cranapple and crangrape. This may have made his chemo easier. Not that chemo is easy just easier. He still feels sick but, he doesn't seem to have the look of sick (if that makes any sense) He ate a sandwhich last night and I can't ever remember him doing that the day of chemo. He kept drinking the juices trying to flush the chemo out of his kidneys.

I am going to watch Skylar tomorrow. Her dad is going to the races and we are going to try and take her to a birthday party.